Nigerian Eneramo gives Esperance early lead

Tunisian side Esperance beat Egypt’s Al Ahly in the second leg of the semi final tie of the 2010 Caf Champions League by a solitary, highly disputed goal.

A first minute Michael Eneramo header sent the November 7 Stadium agog Sunday evening but television replays proved the ball was helped on by Eneramo’s hand – a classic Maradona “hand of God’ style.

The Nigerian striker who is the campaign’s top scorer thus extends his tally to eight goals.

Ahly’s woes were deepen in the 29th minute with the sending-off of midfielder Mohammed Barakat.

Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey showed the red card to Barakat for slapping an Esperance player in the face.

The first half thus finished with the homers recording 1-0 lead which makes the tie 2-2 on aggregate and puts Esperance firmly in the driving seat on the away goal rule as the rains came down in Rades.

With all the action in the first half, the second half was played along more tactical lines.

As Ahly pressed for the much needed away goal, Esperance looked content with soaking the pressure only to hit their opponents on the break.

Chances in the second half were far in between with constant stoppages due to consistent fouling and time delay by the homers.

With all substitutions made, coach of the six-times African Champion, Hossam Badri could only watch on the sidelines as the ‘Red Devils’ hope of making this year’s finals kept wearing away with time.

And so it was, Esperance pipped their north African rivals on the away goal rule with a goal that the Ahly faithfuls will hope to forget very quickly – it wont be easy though.

Esperance will now take on defending champions TP Mazembe of the DRC in the final with the Congolese side hosting the first leg on the weekend of 29th, 30th and 31st of October.